Don’t read too much into internet car complaints because in most cases the entire story behind the failure has not been revealed. Knowing the rest of the sordid tale can often bring a different perspective to that complaint.
The transmission used in the Explorer should be the 4R70W and it’s a good, solid transmission. I own, and have owned, several cars with this transmission and they’ve been absolutely flawless through a quarter million miles of operation; each.
Lack of regular fluid/filter changes has an awful lot to do with whether someone is posting their transmission tale of woe on the net.
The resident transmission expert, Transman, has also stated that this transmission is a good one.
This premise applies to every make/model of vehicle and with every mechanical facet of all of those vehicles.
As to labor rates, generally the only way one would find a triple rate would be comparing a dealer to some guy working out of his driveway. The dealer labor rates are not set arbitrarily. They’re based on what it takes to be profitable.
My memory is hazy on this, but I think the general rule of thumb is that it takes about 25 flat rate hours PER service stall to reach the break even point. So, 10 stalls means 250 hours of flat rate labor per week just to cover expenses.
The analogy I always use is comparing the cost of having your lawn moved by the 14 year old kid from next door against the cost of having it done by a professional lawn care business. Different business models and vast difference in expenses.
“We have beat ourselves up a lot over our foolishness”.
Don’t beat yourself up over this. You are honest people and you trusted the person who sold you the Audi to be honest. I made a mistake on a car when I was young. I had a 1947 Pontiac that cost me $75. When I had saved enough money to upgrade, I traded the 1947 Pontiac in 1962 to a dealer for a 1955 Pontiac that had just been “overhauled”. The 1955 Pontiac was a money pit from day one. Overhaul to the dealer meant a valve job and piston rings. The hydraulic lifters weren’t replaced and eventually I had to do this. The front bearing had to be replaced in the manual transmission. I can’t remember all the other problems, but I was able to bail out after a year. My parents’ good car was totaled in an accident. My dad swapped is older car, a 1954 Buick to me for the Pontiac which he traded to the dealer where I had purchased the car for a replacement for his totaled car.
Since your Audi is apparently still running, take your time and look for its replacement. Have a good independent mechanic check your potential purchase.
My son is naive about automotive purchases. He lives 350 miles away, so I couldn’t tell him much when he was looking for a vehicle. I advised him to take any potential purchase to his mechanic. My son had heard that the Ford Ranger was a reliable truck in his price range. He found two of them. However, his mechanic advised him to run away from both of them and on an older compact truck to ignore the make. Eventually, my son found a well-maintained 2003 Chevrolet S-10. The mechanic checked it over and said that it seemed like a good purchase, so that is what he purchased.
Again, don’t beat yourselves up or think you are dumb. I am going to log off this site now so that Mrs. Triedaq won’t chime in with all the questionable purchases I have made.
Thanks triedaq. Your comments made me laugh. Reminds me to never live life with regrets because it makes you who you are. A more careful car shopper now.
I also appreciate the perspective on the transmission. It’s too bad you don’t know how well a used car has been used. Oh well n
A 10-year-old 2002 era Audi is the definition of ‘money pit’. Your problem is that you’ll get a pretty low price for it, you’ll need quite a bit for the replacement. As for Subarus, try for newer/lower miles. Avoid any 2004 or older with the 2.5 l engine. Have it carefully inspected by somebody that knows Subarus.